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Expert details joint U.S.-South Korea bioattack exercise

The United States and South Korea held a joint exercise in May to counter potential biological attacks by North Korea, according to a ruling party member.

Kim Hak-song of the Grand National Party said that the anti-biological war drill was held at the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses on May 17 through May 27 and was attended by senior officials from both countries' related agencies, the Korea Herald reports.

The exercise was presided over by the U.S., which tried to warn Seoul of Pyongyang's biological weapons, which pose threats to peace in Northeast Asia, Kim said. According to Kim, Seoul opposed the exercise, citing public anxiety and negative economic impact.

The drill was aimed at coping with North Korea's asymmetrical attacks with radiation leakage and biological weapons. North Korea is believed to have 13 types of weaponized stocks of biochemicals, including cholera, typhoid and anthrax.

Military and political heavyweights from both countries, including Gen. Walter Sharp, who was the then-commander of U.S. forces in Korea, participated in a seminar held at KIDA on the last day of the drill.

"South Korea found that it has been hardly prepared to counter North Korea's biological attacks," Kim said, according to the Korea Herald. "The defense ministry should come up with measures against biological warfare."

According to a study, a bomb containing one kilogram of anthrax could kill up to 11,000 people in a city that has a population density of 14,500 per square kilometer. Seoul's density rose to 17,240 per square kilometer in 2010.